Dispositionalism and the Intrinsic Nature of Pure Powers

Abstract Most recently, a number of philosophers have stressed the need for an intrinsic characterisation of the nature of powerful properties which nonetheless is compatible with the widely shared view that powers are intimately connected to the properties of their manifestations. This paper argues that the adoption of such an intrinsic criterion for the identity of pure powers has important consequences for Dispositionalism, the theory of modality according to which the truth of all alethic modal claims is grounded in the powers of actual entities. To this end, the paper examines the cases of two possibilities regarding pure powers and defends the view that these possible cases undermine the extensional adequacy of Dispositionalism.